


Working On It

by Adrien303



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Adoption, CSA, Child Abuse, Child Sexual Abuse, Child prostitute, Gen, Jason Todd is a Good Big Brother, Kenny is the mute character, au kinda, child rape, jason is 16, kenny is 7, mute character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 06:35:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17054987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrien303/pseuds/Adrien303
Summary: I started reading a ton of things where Jason was a dad-like-person for kids he unofficially adopts, and fell in love with the idea. Introducing Kenny! Jay considers them brothers but I consider it more of a pseudo parental relationship.This is pre-Robin for Jay but I aged him up to 16. Bruce will be in there and Tim and Damian are already in the batfam.





	Working On It

Jason walked home in the rain, mud filling his worn out, too small shoes and water splashing off the cheap make up that helped him keep his job. It was four in the morning, and Jay just got off work from Cotton Tails. It was a “young gentleman’s club” which meant mainly that men over 60 were their most loyal customers. The club was co-ed, but the majority were girls who swore up and down that they were 18 but were most likely around 14 to 17. Jason mostly was popular for a laugh- a man would squeeze his ass as he walked by and mock the way he flinched- or for a power play. Those were Jason’s least favorites. The ones who slapped you in the face and made you thank them for it. The ones that were there tonight. There were bodyguards of course to stop the customers from damaging the merchandise too much, but if paid they could be persuaded to go on a short break. Hence the makeup. 

The flickering streetlamps reflected off the broken glass covering the sidewalk, and he was very careful to avoid the larger shards so that he could put off his need to buy new shoes for as long as possible and to avoid injury. The soles were already worn enough to be almost useless and Jay really didn’t want to have to patch himself up under the worried, young eyes of the redhead at home. Slowly making his way around the glass, Jason hurried home. He climbed the stairs to his shabby apartment until he reached the wooden door rotting off its hinges that they couldn’t afford to worry about. Jason unlocked the door and opened it with practiced ease. He stepped onto the rug that was probably older than anyone he’d ever met and slid off his shoes at the door because Jason was raised with manners, thank you very much. It was a one room apartment with a small bathroom joined at where the bed was. Underneath the thick wool some good Samaritan had donated, a little mop of curly red hair peaked out. Jason shucked off his wet socks-gross- and stepped around the places where he knew the floor creaked- desperately trying not to wake the seven-year-old boy snuggled on the old mattress so sweetly. The poor kid rarely got to relax in this life, so Jason wasn’t going to interrupt the only time the kid had to forget the shit of his life. 

Jason wandered over to what they had that functioned as a kitchen area and started boiling water in the pot for tea. Jason was pretty desperate to lay down and try to sap up as much sleep as he can financially afford, but the club always left such a bad taste in his mouth and he couldn’t sleep while the smoke was sticking to his tongue. While he waited for it to come to a boil, he walked over to the little boy he shared a home with. He scanned his eyes over Kenny, looking out for scratches, bruises, or anything that might have hurt his little brother. Satisfied with what he found, Jason took to straightening the pile of dollar detective comics that Jason may have swiped from the rack for Christmas last year. At this point, they’re already well worn: the pages dog eared, mild water damage from the time the sink flooded all over the floor, and the spines torn at the edges from the previous owner.  
When the water finished, Jason brewed the tea and decided to sit and reread Gulliver’s Travels while he finished the drink. Jason sat on an old couch cushion and leaned his back against the peeling green wallpaper. The cushion sagged but it was relatively soft for having as many patches as it did. The person who had the book before him had annotated it using a red pen and a highlighter and he laughed quietly to some of the comments left in the margins. On the first page of the book it says Property of RJG and Jason thought that while that was the ugliest set of initials he’d ever seen; this person was hilarious. Eventually he lifted the cup to his lips only to find the mug empty and decided to finally settle down into bed. Jason meandered his way to the mattress, lifting the blankets and slid underneath. With one last peak at his baby brother, Jason finally pulled the chain on the table lamp they had sat on the floor next to him and laid to sleep.  

Jason never quite knew what it was he dreamt about but he always woke up with his heart racing. This time Jason woke up when it was light out, the suns rays filtering in through the scratches up and broken windows, highlighting the dust particles glittering around. During the day Jason worked as a busboy at a local restaurant down the street. He didn’t have a work permit so they had to pay him under the table until he turned 18, but that was only two years away. Jason generally tried to work everyday, for as many hours as he could just so he could take home that little bit more money to feed Kenny. When the club didn’t give him enough hours, Jason had to turn to the street corners. Jason knew that when you sell yourself, you need to stay away from Crime Alley as long as you wanted to get paid for your service and finish with everything intact. Because of this, Jay had to find a place that wasn’t such a slum that rape was such a likelihood, but wasn’t uppity enough for him to be caught by cops. For Jason, this place was Mariel Road. Jason checked it for months before he started in. There was enough other workers for safety and company, but big too many that the competition would be brutal.

Jason sat up on the mattress and looked over to see the soft and sleeping freckled face of innocence that Kenny was wearing. Jason heaved himself up off of the mattress to grab a new clean-ish shirt and pants with a too big belt. He walked back over to his brother, ran his hand through the rusty locks, and walked out the door without breakfast.


End file.
